[Should the iodination of table salt be increased in Austria?]

Abstract

Since the main reason of endemic goiter is the avoidable iodine deficiency, this in an unnecessary disease. In Austria an exemplary iodized salt prophylaxis was introduced in 1963. Thanks to this iodized salt prophylaxis endemic cretinism has died out. The incidence of hypothyroidism in newborns is currently 1 : 4600, goiter frequency in the first school year now only 1.1 to 1.5%. In contrast the goiter incidence in girls in the twelfth school year increases to 13.4% and up to one third of adults are afflicted by goiter. Studies of iodine excretion in Feldkirch, Innsbruck, Salzburg, Graz and Vienna on a total of 2627 patients showed an iodine excretion of less than 100 micrograms J/g creatinine in the majority of the patients. This proves that there is still an inadequate iodine supplement. The Austrian Nuclear Medicine Society therefore recommends an increase in the potassium iodide content from the present 10 mg potassium iodide/kg to 20 mg potassium iodide/kg table salt, in keeping with the procedure introduced in Switzerland in 1980. Through this measure a decrease in the goiter frequency to less than 3% is to be expected over a longer period. This will result in a considerable reduction in the costs of diagnosis and therapy for this disease. There might be a temporary increase in hyperthyroidism for a certain period as a result of the increase of the content of iodide in the table salt.